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JEDDAH — Saudi diplomat Sarah Baashan who has been appointed to a key position in the UN climate negotiations spoke to Okaz/Saudi Gazette about her new role.

Baashan, along with New Zealand’s Jo Tyndall, was recently appointed vice chair of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement (APA), the main negotiating platform for hammering out a host of sticking issues in global climate talks.

Through her participation in several international conferences and being part of the legal committee in the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, Baashan said, she emphasized the importance of standing proud as a Saudi woman in the international arena.

“I worked in several organizations for more than 12 years after I obtained a Master’s Degree in International Affairs from Columbia University,” she said.

Baashan said several Saudi women are playing key roles in the international arena and are involved in tackling issues of global importance.

“Saudi women are qualified and capable of taking leading national, regional and international roles. They are educated and well aware of the geopolitics of global relations,” Baashan said.

She said she has several years of experience in the field of the politics of climate change. “I joined the Saudi delegation participating in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2012,” said Baashan.

“Our role is to contribute positively to the issue of climate change. Climate change resulted in global warming, which is a problem for most industrial countries. The Kingdom, like many Arab countries, however is not a major contributor to the global warming,” said Baashan.

The Paris Convention on Climate Change, which hosted 195 different countries, resulted in the signing of an international agreement on climate change. The agreement is considered a key step in international efforts toward preventing the adverse effects of global warming and climate change.